^ Thiago Alves is 1-3 in his last 4 fights, he needs a win badly. You can tell when a fighter draws a lot of fans to the UFC when they are kept around after multiple losses and/or are given a new fighter to the UFC who's from overseas.

Papy Abedi is an 8-0 Judo fighter with 5 wins via KO, 2 via submission, so this is most likely going to be a standup war for Thiago, which is his specialty.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papy_Abedi

I think the UFC brings in guys like Papy Abedi and Jorge Santiago, who are known fighters overseas with good records, and then feed them to UFC fighters that are up and coming that need wins vs. notable guys like Brian Stann vs. Jorge Santiago (Santiago is good but is well known for having a weak chin and his first fight back in the UFC is vs. a heavy handed fighter, Santiago usually has decent standup but its vs. weaker opponents then Stann, and Santiago usually tries to get it to the ground at some point, which Stann was prepared for), and now Thiago Alves vs. Papy Abedi (should be a pure standup fight with Abedi underestimating the power of Alves). (Just my guess)

Now, the usual disclaimer: The figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter's income. They also do not include any other "locker room" or special bonuses Zuffa, LLC oftentimes pays.

In other words, the above figures are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.

- Curse continues: Alessio Sakara is out of UFC 133 with torn ACL, Jorge Rivera's new opponent is Constantinos Philippou. Philippou's former opponent, Rafael Natal, will now face Paul Bradley.

- Matt Riddle welcomes newcomer Lance Benoist at UFC Fight Night 25.

- Gerald Harris signs multi-fight deal with DREAM, could debut at September event.

- Amanda Lucas will be making her MMA debut at the DEEP 55 event. Amanda is the daughter of George Lucas. Look at the promotional poster and see if you notice anything that is related to a George Lucas film.+ Show Spoiler +

- Tim Kennedy to be on next week's episode of Deadliest Warrior. Next week's LIVE episode of Deadliest Warrior features the US Army Rangers vs. North Korea's Special Forces. Tim Kennedy will be one of the experts for the Rangers. Episode premiers at 10pm EST/21:00 LP.net.http://www.spike.com/shows/deadliest-warrior

Alistair Overeem cut from Strikeforce
(Most of what is said below has been taken from various news articles mixed with a little bit of my own words, which is why it will look like things are jumbled together.)

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Earlier this week it was reported that Alistair Overeem had been removed from the Strikeforce Grand Prix tournament, and Daniel Cormier would take his place. With Overeem himself saying he had a broken toe, Scott Coker said Overeem's job wasn't in jeopardy and that he still had one fight left on his Strikeforce contract.

Shortly after it was announced that Alistair Overeem had been released by Strikeforce, the latest episode of his video documentary "The Reem" hit the web.

Why is this significant?

Because the video showcases an important piece of the puzzle. On top of running through his fight against Fabricio Werdum on June 18th in Texas, it also fasts forward to about a month later and showcases "Demolition Man's" trip to the hospital.

During his time there, Overeem proclaims that he "must prove" his injuries are real and proceeds to get his ribs x-rayed to determine any damage. Sure enough, the doctor explains that he has a broken rib and advises him not to fight until he no longer feels any pain.

Nevertheless, Overeem was recently booked for a kickboxing match that will take place at the United Glory event in October, in his native Netherlands.

Barring a surprise move to the UFC, Overeem is going to be the sport's top free agent – but one far too expensive for most organizations to afford.

Overeem, who hasn't been defeated in four years and his past 11 fights, won the Strikeforce belt in 2007 and defended the title just once (against Brett Rogers) during his reign. The run included numerous overseas fights for other organizations, as well as an active K-1 kickboxing career.

"If anyone reads the UG forum there's a guy named Hammers Hamil who posted about Brocks surgery before it happened, and A few days ago posted about Reem being stripped of his title etc. He has an inside source at SF. He doesn't post here so i'm just relaying them to this forum.

Anyways he posted tonight which is interesting because he's been accurate so far.

Again this is just RUMORS but rumors from an accurate source. This is just for discussion purposes right now."

Josh barnett is not a lock as of yet for the tourny as ohio obides with csac and nsac zuffa is trying to smooth things over but been told it can happen but is not guaranteed... Werdum has been told to keep in shape and training cause he will be brought back into the tourny... Heat on sergei for taking that kickboxing match and may get shown the door also if that fight happen lots going on in strikeforce land...

He was at the gym I did BJJ at a while ago. I wasn't there but apparently he's ridiculously strong but may or may not have some slight issues with cardio which is annoying if he's cutting down to Welterweight. Good Judo and nice power though.